The Pentagon has released a new price tag for the US-Israel war with Iran, claiming it has cost the United States $29 billion. The department’s comptroller, Jules Hurst, revealed the new total during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday alongside Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.

The estimate is an increase from the $25 billion Hurst reported to members of Congress in late April, the first time the Trump regime had given an official figure. Several experts have questioned the Pentagon’s ledger, suggesting the real cost to US taxpayers was likely much higher.

Fighting has remained generally paused in the US-Israeli war since April 8, barring a handful of flare-ups. Hurst attributed the discrepancy to “updated repair and replacement of equipment … and also just general operational costs.”

The Trump regime has so far not offered a clear picture of damage sustained at US military installations across the Middle East, nor has it revealed the true extent to which the fighting has affected the military’s munitions stockpile. Hegseth claimed the munitions issue has been “foolishly and unhelpfully overstated.”

The Pentagon chief gave little indication of long-term plans for the war, a day after Trump rejected a new ceasefire proposal from Iran. Hegseth stated there are plans to both resume fighting and to de-escalate, saying, “We have a plan to escalate if necessary. We have a plan to retrograde if necessary.”

The war has proven unpopular in the US and threatens to harm Republicans in the midterm elections in November. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier, with gasoline prices surging 5.4 percent, adding to economic pressures.

Source: www.aljazeera.com